Henrietta Cordelia Ray
by George J. Dance Henrietta Cordelia Ray (August 30, 1852 - 1915) was an African-American poet and teacher. Life Ray was born in New York City, one of 7 children of Charlotte Augusta (Burrough) and Charles Bennett Ray, a leading abolitionist. Her father, who began as a blacksmith, rose to become the editor of the Colored American (the third black-owned newspaper in America), and also served as minister of the Bethesda Congregational Church from 1845 to 1865.H(enrietta) Cordelia Ray Biography, Dictionary of Literary Biography (Thomson-Gale 2005--2006), BookRags Inc., Web, Nov. 20, 2012. She graduated from the University of the City of New York in 1891, and the Sauvener School of Languages. She taught in the New York City public school system for many years.Henrietta Ray, A Fine Black Poet and Biographer, African American Registry, Web, Nov. 20, 2012. Ray initially won attention as a writer with her poem "Lincoln: Written for the occasion of the unveiling of the Freedmen's Monument in Memory of Abraham Lincoln,"Henrietta Cordelia Ray, Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the US (Oxford University Press, 1995). Web, Nov. 20, 2012. which was publicly read at the unveiling of that monument in April 1876.Henrietta Cordelia Ray, AllPoetry, Web, Nov. 20, 2012. Her 1st published book was a collaboration with her sister Florence, a biography of their father. Sketch of the Life of Rev. Charles B. Ray, which appeared in 1887, was widely praised. Her debut collection of poetry, Sonnets was published in 1893. A 2nd volume, Poems (which included Sonnets) was published in 1910. Ray was widely praised in her time for her refined manners and Classical learning. In Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction published in 1926, Hallie Quinn Brown remarked on her “versatility, love of nature, classical knowledge, delicate fancy, and unaffected piety." Writing The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing describes the 12 poems of Sonnets (1893) as "Petrarchan sonnet ... on topics such as Niobe, life, aspiration, self-mastery, Shakespeare, Milton, Beethoven, and Raphael. Unfortunately, there are very few verses that display any complexity or innovation." Poems (1910) was a more ambitious collection of 145 poems, grouped in 10 sections. Recognition Her volume of Poems was reprinted in 1978 in Collected Black Women's Poetry, volume 3 of the Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers (1988). Publications Poetry *''Sonnets''. Press of J.J. Little, 1893. *''Poems''. New York: Grafton Press, 1910 **also published in Collected Black Women's Poetry (edited by Joan R. Sherman). Oxford, UK, & New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Non-fiction *''Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Charles B. Ray'' (with Florence T. Ray). New York: Press of J.J. Little, 1897. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Henrietta Cordelia Ray, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 21, 2015. See also *African-American poets *List of U.S. poets References Notes External links ;Poems *Henrietta Cordelia Ray 1849-1917 at the Poetry Foundation *Henrietta Cordelia Ray (4 poems) at the Academy of American Poets *Henrietta Cordelia Ray Poems at Inspirational Poetry. *Henrietta Cordelia Ray at AllPoetry (6 poems) ;About *Henrietta Ray: A fine black poet and biographer at the African American Registry Category:1852 births Category:1916 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:African American poets Category:African American female poets Category:American poets Category:English-language poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:University of the City of New York alumni Category:American women writers Category:People from New York City